Lydia - Lydia's Blog. 4-14 March 2016. Half way to Marquasas.

Friday 4 March 2016.
3rd day at sea and still in Doldrums. Managed to sail for 2 hours but rest
motor sailing SW at 6 knots in company with most of the fleet. 1200. Lat 04d
10'S Long 092d 35'W. What little wind from SW! Beautiful starlit night.

Saturday 5 March 2016.
Lots of phospheresence in water, Moon rises 4am 1/3 waning. 0600 a little
wind from SE 6 knots so engine off and sail until 0915. Engine on again to
keep momentum. 1100 tried chute but not comfortable. Noon Lat 05d 46'S Long
093d 52'W. Leaders of ARC fleet now about 50 miles to north and 80 miles to
west. Continue motoring course SW to follow Pilot Guide that advises SE
Trades will start at 7-8d South.

Sunday 6 March 2016.
A day of large rain storm all around of which we passed through on edge.
0730 engine off with SE 5 knots of wind which increases to 6-7 knots by
10.30. Noon Lat 06d 55'S Long 95d 38'W. Plan to continue to sail SW in hope
that wind and weather stabilise to SE Trades.

Monday 7 March 2016.
Have full main up reefed to first spreader with yankee bowling along doing
6-7 knots in 15 knots wind from SE. Noon. Lat 08.01'S Long 97d 56'W. Spirit
V which started 2 days before and is fastest yacht in fleet reported to be
over half way with 1100 miles to go. We are still at 98d W with 2450 miles
to go! ARC try evening roll call at 2100 because of "Skip Distance". Not a
success.

Tuesday 8 March 2016.
Bowling along on a broad reach at 7 knots steering 260d. After breakfast I
lashed myself on to do my washing on the after deck balancing a bucket of
fresh water between my knees with the lanyard to my lifejacket taut to stop
me careering over the side each time Lydia rolled. For 11 items of washing,
one in soapy water and 3 rinses took 2 hours but made a very good physical
work out! We knew the automatic forward bilge pump was not working so ever
since we arrived at the Galapagos I had used the manual pump for the forward
bilge located in the forward cabin. Today it took 200 pumps to clear the
bilge and then only 5 hours later another 100 pumps. Clearly something was
wrong and we worried that may be we had sprung a leak. We emptied the
forward sail locker and Donald unscrewed the floor of the locker to get to
the bilge below and check for damage and a leak. To our relief and surprise
we discovered that the overflow from the forward port side fresh water tank
surprisingly went into the bilge! Noon. Lat 08d 26'S Long 100d 47'W. A good
day's run noon to noon of 163 miles.

Wednesday 9 March 2016.
A beautiful cloudless day with wind of 15 knots from SE and full main yankee
and staysail. Perfect day's sailing. Noon. Lat 08d 40'S Long 103.22'W.
Notice that gas was turning itself off intermittently. Noon to noon 167
miles. Sunset was unforgettable with the entire horizon of 360d becoming a
halo of pink. By 1800 the wind and waves began to rise so we reefed the main
and furled the staysail for the night.

Thursday 10 March 2016.
Another beautiful day. The wind had died slowly so we increased to full
main, yankee and staysail. Problems of the gas continue which makes it
challenging for the cooks. Try changing gas bottles and check solinoid in
after locker but to no avail. Noon. Lat 08d 58'S Long 106d 15'W. 24hrs sail
173 miles. The high points of these days are lunch with a beer at 1330 and a
beer at 1830 followed by dinner at 1900. The cooks, Steve and Alvaro
continue to excel themselves and we eat like fighting cocks. My concern is
that we are not doing sufficient excercise to warrant the quality and
quantity our chefs are producing unless you count the contunual need to
balance and grab anything to keep stable on yacht which is forever bucking,
twisting and pitching.

Friday 11 March 2016.
Wind has dropped sufficiently for us to hoist the crusing chute and we bowl
along at 7.5 knots. By the late afternoon the wind has died to 10 knots and
has backed slightly so we are on a course of 270d due west. Noon. Lat 09d
31'S Long 108d 53'W. Day's run 160 miles.

Saturday 12 March 2016.
Throughout the early morning the wind has been dying and backing so steering
anything from 230-260d to keep wind 60d on our port quarter. 0800 Call all
hands to furl yankee, bring down main and rig the two spinnaker poles for
Trade Wind sailing with twin foresails. It took us one and half hours to
complete the operation. the wind was SE 8 knots and on a course of 289d we
made 6 knots. Our intermitent unreliable gas problem persists. Noon. Lat 09d
51S Long 111d 13'W. Days' run 143 miles. Alvaro cooks very good spag bol
using microwave as gas so unreliable.

Sunday 13 March 2016.
Little sleep because of continuous rolling with twin foresails. Wind SE 8-10
knots steering 275-295d. Noon. Lat 9d 44'S Long 113d 24'W. Day's sail 135
miles. Steve cooks excellent chicken curry and rice again mainly using
microwave. Donald changes Ship's Time by going back one hour as we are now
in Time Zone 7. This means we shall see the sun rise and set at the more
normal times of 0600 and 1830.

Monday 14 March 2016.
On morning watch with wind vane steering between 270-300d. Donald puts us
back on self steering and resets the hankey so we are now steering 270d but
as wind now at 17-20 knots (just what we need) and backing slightly we steer
275d. The gas still is a major problem and we miss our morning teas. Donald
goes down to the gas locker in the stern and bypasses the solinoid which we
all think is causing the problems. The gas now works but we will be
returning to traditional yacht rules with the gas being turned on and off at
the bottle in the stern. Tea at last! Noon. Lat 09d 24'S Long 115d 44'W. Cse
275d. Wind 10-12 knots SE with lumpy sea. Day's run 155 miles.